Legio Fortidus
The Legio Fortidus ("Dauntless") was a Loyalist Titan Legion of the Collegia Titanica founded well before the Age of the Imperium, quite possibly during the Age of Strife on the Mechanicum's sacred world of Mars. The Legio Fortidus was one of the ancient Titan Legions of Mars and rightly proud of their heritage. Even those who had never laid eyes upon the red sands of their homeworld stood firm in the face of danger, the glory of Mars theirs to uphold. Unfortunately, they were among the first Legions to be targeted after the Death of Innocence when the Martian Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal first made his deal with the Warmaster Horus to turn against the Emperor, just before the start of the Schism of Mars. At the time, the Legio Fortidus was generally believed to have perished in the opening days of that Martian civil war, but those outposts of the Legion still fighting on the fringes of the Great Crusade continued to endure. They forged a fearless reputation on dozens of worlds across the galaxy, bringing the Emperor's wrath to the Traitor forces of the Arch-Heretic Horus, driven by the treachery committed against them and their need for revenge, despite their long, slow decline to extinction. Indeed, it is not known to what extent the Legion survived the Heresy or if it was rebuilt following the years of the Great Scouring. Legion History Schism of Mars , Bastion of Sorrow]] At the outset of the Horus Heresy, the Warmaster Horus sent the Dark Mechanicum representative Regulus to Mars to secure the tentative support of the Fabricator-General of the Mechanicum, Kelbor-Hal, for Horus' coming rebellion. Regulus convinced the Fabricator-General of the Warmaster's resolve to support increased autonomy for the Mechanicum against the autocratic rule of the Emperor of Mankind. As a show of his appreciation for the Fabricator-General's support, Horus provided information to Kelbor-Hal that allowed the Tech-priest to open a repository of forbidden knowledge known as the Vaults of Moravec, which the Emperor had ordered sealed. When this repository was reopened, there was all manner of forbidden arcane knowledge and weaponry that had obviously been tainted by the corrupting influence of Chaos stored within. Soon the corruption spread throughout the forges and temples across the Red Planet as scrap code -- Chaos-contaminated digital source code that was infected with an arcane computer virus -- infected the logi-stacks and Cogitator (computer) archives of the Mechanicum, causing literal Chaos to emerge in any Cogitator system that was networked to one of its infected counterparts. The Fabricator-General and his Dark Mechanicum allies used this disruption to marshal the strength of their forces, intent on bringing the rule of Mars firmly under their control. Infected by this vicious scrap code, the Titans of the Legio Fortidus and Legio Agravides present on Mars met their end when their plasma reactors went critical and exploded, destroying their fortresses and eliminating these once-proud Titan Legions from the roster of Loyalist forces. In later years, this night would become known in Adeptus Mechanicus legends as the "Death of Innocence". Horus Heresy Though the civil war on Mars claimed the majority of their god-engines and the oldest of their Princeps, outposts of the Legio Fortidus and those still fighting on the fringes of the Great Crusade endured out among the stars. These small battlegroups forged a fearsome name for themselves on dozens of worlds across the galaxy. Often outnumbered, their Princeps fought on relentlessly against Traitor forces, driven by the betrayal that had doomed them to a slow but inevitable extinction. Notable Campaigns *'Battle of Molech (009.M31)' - Molech was a Knight World ruled over by House Devine ever since the Emperor Himself led an expedition to bring it into the fledgling Imperium and left a significant garrison there. The planet thrived under the rule of Devine, the populace of its capital city of Lupercalia never knowing the true reason why the Emperor had taken it upon Himself to lead the force that claimed it. Unfortunately for the citizens of Molech, the Traitor Horus knew exactly what lay beneath the city that had been named in his honour -- a Warp Gate which, it was said, had allowed the Emperor to convene with the Ruinous Powers themselves. When Loyalist forces became aware of the Traitor fleet's approach, they mustered at Molech. As well as a trio of Titan Legions -- the Legio Gryphonicus, Legio Crucius, and Legio Fortidus -- there were elements of each of the Imperium's fighting forces, including nearly a dozen Knight Houses which owed fealty to Devine. The Traitor force was equally impressive, featuring no fewer than four Titan Legions: the Legio Vulpa, Legio Interfector, Legio Vulcanum II, and the infamous Legio Mortis. Maniples of god-engines began their march against Avadon, their orders to lay the city to waste. Refugees streamed from it, desperate to get ahead of the Traitors' advance. From Zanark Deeps, closest of the Legio fortresses, the salvation of the refugees came. Titans of Legio Fortidus, orphaned by the Martian civil war, made their stand against the far greater numbers arrayed against them. For hours, the two sides duelled in the outer districts of Ava don, setting the city ablaze with their apocalyptic weaponry. And though in the end Legio Fortidus was broken, they had bloodied the Traitor Titan Legions and bought precious time for the citizens of Avadon to flee. Legion Stratagems With the majority of their Legion destroyed on Mars, the surviving Princeps Seniores of the Dauntless were forced to become more flexible in their tactics and use whatever Titan assets they could call upon to aid them. Conviction in their cause drove the Princeps of Legio Fortidus with new determination, and they were able to throw off the distracting pains of the MIU and force their Titans to respond to their commands no matter the damage they might suffer. Such was the wound inflicted on the Dauntless by the Traitors that their Princeps were often more than willing to sacrifice themselves if it meant grievous injury could be dealt to the followers of the Warmaster. Fortis Battle Maniple Titans are mobile fortresses as formidable to bring down as any redoubt of steel and stone. The Fortis Battle Maniple was a defensive formation, allowing Titans to resist assaults from numerically superior foes or the massed firepower of enemy war engines. Standing shoulder to shoulder, the Titans of a Fortis Battle maniple shrugs off devastating hits with overlapping void shields and locked armoured plates. Required Titans *1 ''Warlord''-class Battle Titan *2 ''Reaver''-class Battle Titans Optional Additional Titans *1 Warlord-class Battle Titan *1 Reaver-class Battle Titan Notable Titans *''Bastion of Sorrow'' (''Warlord''-class Titan) - Scattered across the galaxy and heavily depleted after the Schism of Mars, many Legio Fortidus battlegroups firmly believed that they were the only survivors of their ancient Titan Order. Many Princeps underwent marked changes because of this. The Princeps of Bastion of Sorrow became so focused on avenging the wrongs dealt to their Titan Legion they altered their god-engine's name and sacrificed some of its long-range firepower in favour of weapons better suited to deliver its vengeance directly in close combat. *''Bloodgeld'' (Warlord-class Titan) - Titan of Princeps Utu-Lerna. *''Red Vengeance'' (Warlord-class Titan) - Titan of Princeps Uta-Dagon. *''Hound of Mars'' (''Warhound''-class Titan) - Originally conceived as scouts and skirmishers, catastrophic losses saw many Warhounds pushed into roles normally reserved for their larger brethren. During the defence of Lupercalia during the Doom of Molech, the Hound of Mars was noted for utilising tactics deemed hazardous by many observers. Leading a squadron of Warhounds similarly armed with weapons that taxed the smaller reactor of the Titan, the Hound of Mars led numerous sorties through the ruins of Lupercalia that proved instrumental in driving the Traitors from the world. Notable Personnel *'Princeps Uta-Dagon' - Uta-Dagon was a Princeps of the Red Vengeance, the Warlord Titan he had piloted for eighty Terran years and whose name he had changed after a vivid waking dream in its MIU Manifold. He fought and eventually died during the Battle of Molech. *'Princeps Utu-Lerna' - Utu-Lerna was a Princeps of the Bloodgeld and sister of Uta-Dagon. She died alongside her brother. *'Warmonger Urnammu' - Urnammu was an executor fetial of the Legio Fortidus. Such a high rank allowed her move between the Legions freely, but she decided to die with her beloved masters. Legion Appearance Legion Colours The colours of the Legio Fortidus are primarily red and white trimmed in brass. The primary colour red indicates their origins and allegiance to the Martian Mechanicum homeworld of Mars. Legion Badge The Legion badge of the Legio Fortidus is a black skull centered upon a pair of crossed swords. An Iron Halo in the form of a half-cog sits upon the skull's brow. These primary symbols are centred within a large white cog, on a field of red. Sources *''Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Rulebook'' (Specialty Game), pg. 15 *''Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Doom of Molech'' (Specialty Game), pp. 7, 12, 20-22, 30, 64-65 *''Mechanicum'' (Novel) by Graham McNeill *''Vengeful Spirit'' (Novel) by Graham McNeill, Ch. 14 Gallery Dauntless_Warhound Titan.png|A Legio Fortidus ''Warhound''-class Battle Titan, Hound of Mars. Fortis_Battle Maniple.png|A group of Legio Fortidus Battle Titans in a Fortis Battle Maniple formation. ES:Legio Fortidus Category:L Category:Collegia Titanica Category:Adeptus Mechanicus Category:Imperium Category:Walkers Category:Imperial Walkers